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The WWE made history Monday, officially moving their iconic Monday Night Raw program from cable television to Netflix for the world to see. Both diehard and casual wrestling fans tuned in for last night’s debut, as did those in the sports media world, who wanted to see just how and what Netflix was capable of with their new $5 billion investment. 

So how’d they do?

From a sheer visual standpoint – the lights, the fireworks, the overall “big time” feel of the show, there was no doubt that WWE made the right move. However, last night’s program itself came with A LOT of frustrating moments – including an ungodly number of commercials, a new ring mat that looks like a NASCAR vehicle with all the new advertisements, and an atrocious appearance from The Rock. There was also Hulk Hogan being booed out of the arena.

Let me break it down for you:

 

THE GOOD 

WWE’s ten-year, $5 billion partnership with Netflix was done for one reason and one reason only – to build the brand to be available to as many viewers as possible. If last night was any indication of just how many people now have the opportunity to tune in – either regularly or at their convenience – then it was a huge win.

The production of the show looked great. Netflix clearly learned from their Jake Paul vs Mike Tyson streaming and buffering disaster and made sure that there were no hiccups or mistakes. 

From a broadcast standpoint, last night’s show went off without a hitch – albeit the audio mix seemed a bit off for broadcasters Michael Cole and Pat McAfee. But besides that? No issues whatsoever. 

THE BAD

Wrestling fans had two major issues with last night’s broadcast: the massive amount of commercials and The Rock.

One of the biggest changes that wrestling fans noticed was that the ring canvas was not the traditional clear blue mat. Rather, it was a new black one that was loitered with various advertisements all over it, including one from Snickers and beer companies.

Initially, fans were led to believe that the ring mat changes were being made as a way for Netflix and the WWE to make revenue, being that there would be no commercials to bring in advertising revenue, similar to how UFC events work. 

That turned out to not be the case, as RAW had multiple 3-4-minute-long commercials throughout the entire program, leading MANY fans to become frustrated, especially considering it’s much harder to browse and change channels on Netflix compared to watching a program on cable. 

I didn’t take the experience too well, as the video I posted on my social media accounts showed.

The Rock didn’t make things any better. 

WWE had the wrestling superstar-turned-movie-star kick off the program last night in what was a bizarre segment where The Rock broke “kayfabe” – that is, the “realness” of the wrestling storyline. 

The Rock appeared as “Dwayne Johnson” rather than his Rock persona, although fans were very confused about the entire bit as he would then go on to praise and even hug the very wrestlers he has been feuding with on the program throughout the past year.  

Wrestling fans were furious as it’s almost sacrilegious to break kayfabe, especially if you are as big of a name as The Rock, and it led to them being frustrated throughout the duration of the night. All one has to do is search “The Rock” on X, and you’ll see just how mad wrestling fans were.

AND THEN THERE WAS HULK HOGAN…

 Perhaps the most awkward and awful part of the night was when legendary wrestler Hulk Hogan was introduced at the start of the final hour of the program and was nearly booed out of the building.

The Los Angeles Intuit Dome crowd drowned out the Hulkster with boos that made it cringe to watch at home. Liberal California did not take too kindly to Hogan being an outspoken Trump supporter. Viewers could see Hogan getting increasingly frustrated as everything he said would not go over with the crowd. I’m sure whoever thought this was a good idea to sacrifice Hogan to the liberal masses probably got quite the ringing from Hogan when he went back to the locker room.

In the end, however, the fact that there were only a handful of complaints – many of which a casual wrestling fan wouldn’t have even noticed, shows that WWE made the right move in partnering with Netflix. 

Social media was going wild with live reactions to everything that was going on, which is exactly what WWE and Netflix intended. The streaming platform has just proven itself to be a competitive force when it comes to live sports. 

DID YOU ENJOY WWE RAW ON NETFLIX LAST NIGHT? TWEET ME YOUR THOUGHTS: @TheGunzShow